Jan 4, 2017, 6:59 am
Last edit by: mia
CAUTION: In February 2019, American Airlines changed the coding of gift card transactions. Although there are a few successful data points since, in general, Gift Card purchases are now explicitly identified, and no longer reimbursed by American Express.
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
Data Points on automatically reimbursed incidentals since 2017:
Admirals Club Memberships: Admirals Club Passes:
Wifi is provided by one of three third-party providers and is thus not eligible for the incidental credit.
* For items not automatically reimbursed but which are not excluded by Amex, you can try and request manual reimbursement from American Express; however, you may need to wait 14-28 days first.
To review AA reimbursement reports from 2011-2016 as well as information on gift cards, click HERE.
Reminder: you must enroll and select your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. http://www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice -or- "Call the number on the back of your Card to select a qualifying airline."
Data Points on automatically reimbursed incidentals since 2017:
Admirals Club Memberships: Admirals Club Passes:
- Yes - Hilton-gold, moe8555
- No - ShrinkTheGlobe, canesfan, jasmians, soy
- Yes - Dedicated, Rakibullslam, tsmith12, lotrbfme, mia, GTITAN, cdoobiest
- No - Alex_I, exmike, jb0506, fangtl, nall, javabytes, chitink
- Mixed - PatrickTM, Visconti, iahphx
- No - cubs105, prhocky2607
- No - PatrickTM, mileshound
- Yes - LuizMiranda, fotoflyer88, nk15, joshvworld, Hilton-gold, captaink, JCN, aftortoriello, nall
- No - pubsmeister
- Yes - jvel
- Yes - JDiver
- No - AUSINSIGHT
- No - mrlemm
- Yes - Segments
- Yes - wireless_999, saunders111, mosfet, Budoka, sdsearch
- Mixed - inevitability
Wifi is provided by one of three third-party providers and is thus not eligible for the incidental credit.
* For items not automatically reimbursed but which are not excluded by Amex, you can try and request manual reimbursement from American Express; however, you may need to wait 14-28 days first.
To review AA reimbursement reports from 2011-2016 as well as information on gift cards, click HERE.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: AA only (2017-2019)
Dec 20, 2017, 11:02 am
#436
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,239
Just to update on this, when the 15th came around and the credit still didn't post, I bought another $100 gift card. Second GC posted on the 17th and credit appeared on the 19th.
I believe the two day lag time is more in line with other peoples' experiences so it may be best to give it a day or two after selecting the airline before buying GCs. My benefits page did show AA as my chosen airline immediately after my selection but perhaps it takes a bit for whatever system flags transactions to update.
I believe the two day lag time is more in line with other peoples' experiences so it may be best to give it a day or two after selecting the airline before buying GCs. My benefits page did show AA as my chosen airline immediately after my selection but perhaps it takes a bit for whatever system flags transactions to update.
Dec 20, 2017, 12:23 pm
#438
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 989
I've been able to get credit automatically even though I selected the airline after purchase, while the purchase was pending.
Dec 20, 2017, 4:02 pm
#439
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1
DP: NJ Resident here.. made a purchase of the AA gift card using all NJ address and phone# got the gift card and the airline credit. So it does seem to work for NJ residents as well.
Dec 20, 2017, 5:04 pm
#440
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 27
Just to update on this, when the 15th came around and the credit still didn't post, I bought another $100 gift card. Second GC posted on the 17th and credit appeared on the 19th.
I believe the two day lag time is more in line with other peoples' experiences so it may be best to give it a day or two after selecting the airline before buying GCs. My benefits page did show AA as my chosen airline immediately after my selection but perhaps it takes a bit for whatever system flags transactions to update.
I believe the two day lag time is more in line with other peoples' experiences so it may be best to give it a day or two after selecting the airline before buying GCs. My benefits page did show AA as my chosen airline immediately after my selection but perhaps it takes a bit for whatever system flags transactions to update.
The purchase just officially posted today and waiting to see if I will see a credit soon.
Dec 20, 2017, 5:19 pm
#441
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 106
Also changed my airline selection to AA and few minutes later purchased the gift cards - it's been a month, and no reimbursement. Are the gift cards refundable?
Dec 20, 2017, 5:27 pm
#442
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Dec 20, 2017, 8:59 pm
#443
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 3
I just got approved for AMEX PRG 12/20,
Should I select my airline right away and make the purchase now or should i wait? I plan to do $100 GC via AA. Thanks!
Should I select my airline right away and make the purchase now or should i wait? I plan to do $100 GC via AA. Thanks!
Dec 20, 2017, 9:28 pm
#444
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 284
And no, AA isn't going to refund you.
Dec 21, 2017, 8:28 am
#445
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,239
If you make the purchase too soon after selecting your airline, you aren't going to be reimbursed. I did the same thing (bought the GCs 5 minutes after selecting AA as my airline), and did not get reimbursed. But the next time, I waited 24 hours and had no issues with the reimbursement.
And no, AA isn't going to refund you.
And no, AA isn't going to refund you.
Dec 22, 2017, 4:16 pm
#446
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 3
Bought 2x AA $100 GC on 12/18 and got reimburse 12/20
Dec 22, 2017, 6:16 pm
#447
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ORD (formerly ORD>SFO>AKL)
Programs: AA PPro, QF Gold, DL Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Platinum
Posts: 363
I bought one $100 GC on 12/17 and was reimbursed 12/19. Bought the second $100 card on 12/20 and should hopefully be reimbursed within the next day or so.
Dec 23, 2017, 8:58 am
#448
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,239
If I make the charge in 2017, and it reimburses in 2018, does it count against 2017 credit or 2018 credit?
Dec 24, 2017, 11:41 pm
#449
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 3
12/20/2017: Applied and approved for PRG
12/21/2017: Bought $100 AA GC in one transaction
12/23/2017: credited $100
12/21/2017: Bought $100 AA GC in one transaction
12/23/2017: credited $100
Dec 25, 2017, 12:34 am
#450
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1
2017.12.21: Bought 1x $100 GC and 1x $55 GC in two separate transactions on my Amex Plat.
2017.12.23: 2x credits of same amounts posted.
2017.12.23: 2x credits of same amounts posted.